As part of our calendar celebrating national heritage months and observances, explore these selected works that speak to Filipino American history and heritage.
- Set in Kaua’i, Hawai’i, Danielle Batalion Ola’s debut essay, “The Idle Talk of Mothers and Daughters” (Issue 18), traces the contours of a complicated relationship as mother and daughter “talk story” over McDonald’s breakfast platters.
- Bino A. Realuyo’s poem “Hippocampus” explores masculinity’s connections to religious spirituality and child-rearing.
- Joseph O. Legaspi’s poem “Easter, Bonifacio High Street” captures the strange sight of a station of the cross in the middle of a metro-Manila shopping mall.
- Oliver de la Paz’s poems “Labyrinth 75” and “Labyrinth 76” (both from Issue 06) follow the boy in the labyrinth; see also “Poetry-Making as Empathy Play: An Interview with Oliver de la Paz.”
We’re fortunate to have many poems by R. Zamora Linmark in our pages, including “Fake: A Fable,” a sharp commentary on contemporary life featuring everything from alternative facts to zombies; “Two Poems Composed After Watching Pedro Almodóvar’s Flicks While Suffering from Insomnia,” from our May 2019 poetry feature; and “Morning Salutation for Joe Brainard” from Issue 08. Linmark’s poems are also included as part of several past issues and poetry features; check out “Pilgrimage to a Killing (Issue 18),” “Dead-of-Night Blossoms (Issue 13),” “At This Point,” “Soon to Be Titled” and “Three Lives.”
Photo by Pexels user Marfil Graganza Aquino.
Reading List: Filipino American History Month